Stewardship Spotlight: Schools of Salmon and Students in the Pacific Northwest, Part 1

Fall rains of the Pacific Northwest have descended and with them, the annual migration of salmon determined to reach their home waters. Having left the vast Pacific Ocean in the spring time, schools of Spring Chinook salmon in the Lower Columbia River Basin migrate upstream guided by a powerful homing instinct to return to their natal river.

Against all odds, they jump up waterfalls, escape predators, dodge debris and pollution, evade anglers, and make it past many more obstacles that await them. After hundreds of miles of swimming on energy reserves, they find cool deep pools to rest and mature in.

When the rivers rise with the rain, the salmon finally make their way back to the very streams they were born in seeking habitat to lay their eggs. Some of these streams lead to hatcheries, where biologists help spawn the adult salmon, extracting thousands of eggs.

These Spring Chinook eggs, once fertilized and after a month of developing, become the eyed-eggs that are fostered annually in classroom aquariums in over 700 Oregon schools across the state. And that’s where the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and its partners come together in the greater Portland-Metro region.

10 Years of Salmon Stewardship

The Salmon Stewards initiative, now in its 10th year, unites NWF’s Eco-Schools U.S. and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW)’s long-standing Fish Eggs to Fry program to connect students with salmon conservation and watershed health. NWF has been partnering with ODFW and its Oregon state affiliate, the Association for Northwest Steelheaders for over a decade to help deliver eggs to classrooms, supply technical guidance, support fry releases, and provide teacher training and a framework for student action.

Together, these partners help cultivate conservation ethics, cultural awareness, and hands-on learning, including recognition of the significance of salmon and lamprey to Indigenous and Native Peoples. Classrooms incorporate salmon life cycle and watershed ecology lessons into their science, math, social studies, and even art curriculum. Through creative projects, water quality testing, and outdoor field trips to release the young fish, called fry, student “Salmon Squads” participate in authentic learning and real-world experiences.

Since 2015, NWF has directly partnered with 25 schools (and assisted dozens more) to participate in the Salmon Stewards initiative. During the 2024-25 school year, four elementary schools from North Clackamas School District earned Eco-Schools U.S. certification through their Salmon Stewards activities and released 2,300 Chinook salmon fry into their local watershed.

This fall in ODFW’s North Willamette District (encompassing the Portland-Metro region), Fish Eggs to Fry had a banner year! A new record of participation was reached with over 200 classrooms (143 schools) fostering 43,400 Chinook salmon eggs across 31 school districts in six counties.

More than 40 volunteers delivered eggs to 152 classrooms and represented the Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program (STEP), Northwest Steelheaders (Tualatin Valley, Sandy, and Clackamas River Chapters), ODFW Angler Education Instructors, ODFW Staff, NWF Staff, and more. Over 13,000 students (including those from 71 Title 1 classrooms) will be engaged in rearing the salmon in aquariums for approximately two months of their life cycle from eyed-egg stage to hatched alevin and then as young fry that are eventually released into local waterways.

Read part 2 of this two-part salmon series here.